Bellevue, Wash. — Twenty-one-year old Wendell Downs was one of two inmates in a van when it arrived just before noon at the Bellevue District Court. He was the first inmate the officer allowed out. "He escaped," said Bellevue Police Officer Carla Iafrate. "Ran southbound here. He was in his red jail attire with wrist restraints and foot restraints."
The Prison Support Officer, also known as a PSO, was not armed. She stayed with the second prisoner and used her radio to call for police backup. Several Bellevue police officers were in the area but by the time they arrived, Downs was gone.
"I've been practicing law for over 25 years and I've never seen anything like this," Lawyer Jeannie Mucklestone said as she arrived at court to news of the escape.
"And that he got in the vehicle and the vehicle took off and he left his slippers right in the roadway," said Mucklestone. In fact, his slippers were still in the middle of the road when KIRO 7 arrived.
Downs - also known as Windell Downs - was at court on a suspended license charge but he was being held at the King County jail on robbery and theft charges, too.
Now police believe he was whisked away by his 20-year-old girlfriend, Tanjanique Hillis, in a blue Ford Crown Victoria.
Bellevue Police say the way he arrived at this court is the way it has been done here for years. "The PSO, did she do anything wrong?" a KIRO 7 reporter asked. "Not that I know of," replied Officer Iafrate.
Bellevue police say Downs and Hillis should be considered dangerous. If you see them, don't approach them. Just call 911.
KIRO
